The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Aspects of the present invention relate to a roof assembly for a vehicle having an opening in its fixed roof, which roof assembly comprises a stationary part and at least one rigid panel movably supported by the stationary part through an operating mechanism, which panel is movable between a closed position, in which it closes the opening in the fixed roof, and an open position, in which it is moved with its rear side upwardly and slid rearwardly, wherein a downwardly extending side cover is connected to side edges of said panel and to the stationary part, which side cover hiding the operating mechanism from a side view, the side cover being substantially stationary in longitudinal direction with respect to the stationary part and being slidably guided in a guide rail on the panel, said guide rail being configured to guide the side cover in vertical and lateral directions.
A roof assembly of this kind is for example known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,862,109. In this prior art roof assembly, the side covers are integrally connected on their lower sides to the stationary part. The upper sides of the side covers are configured to be in sliding engagement with the panel. Thus, the panel may be moved in longitudinal direction while the side cover is kept stationary.
Such structure is satisfactory with rectangular panels where the sliding movement of the panel is substantially parallel to the side edges of the panel. With non-rectangular panels, in particular wide panels that follow the curvature of the side beams of the vehicle (which flare out to the front side of the vehicle) such guide rails below the panel cannot follow the side curvature of the panel as this would necessitate a substantial lateral movement of the side cover, which may not be possible or pose technical problems, especially if the cover is already curved in other directions.